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Wednesday, September 28, 2016

5 ways to share a sari and make a difference this festival season

What’s not
to love about the festive season? The laddoos and the lights, the sparklers and
the smiles, holidays and wholesome fun. And for some of us, it’s also about new
saris for ourselves and new outfits for the entire family.

While I’m
not sure whether I can stop myself from splurging on a handloom sari this
season, what I can promise is to make place for the new six yards by giving
away at least one gently-used sari. And this time, not to the maid, who I
realize has enough and more, but to a woman in a remote village whose
‘wardrobe’ is the only sari on her back.

Sitting here
in my house with all the comforts of a modern life, and trunks full of gorgeous
saris, I can’t imagine what it must be like to not have enough – not enough
food to fill one’s belly, not enough clothes to cover up one self, not enough
money to buy even the most basic of needs. But if I can make just a little difference
to someone’s situation, add a little sparkle to someone’s life, then let it be
through something I love and cherish so much – a sari. A sari that I’ve loved,
a sari that I don’t wear anymore. A sari that will offer a shred of dignity to
a woman who is struggling to cover herself up with the only tattered sari that
she owns.

1. Join the ‘Your Saree for Dignity’
Campaign by Goonj. You
could start a sari collection drive in your locality or even share a few of
your own. While parting with several of your saris may seem heart wrenching,
all of us can share at least one sari that we’ve not worn for ages. Goonj sends
these saris to women in remote villages, who welcome them with wide smiles and
open arms.

If you wish
to send your saris directly to the Goonj’s various dropping center, here is the
list of places:

Contact Goonj: For more information, email them at mail@goon.org or call them up at 011-26972351. .

Sister Lucy with women at Maher

2. Donate your gently-used saris to destitute women's homes across India. If you’re in Pune, you could get in touch with Maher, a group of homes for destitute women, young un-wed mothers
and mentally-challenged women that’s run by Sister Lucy Kurien. Saris are what
most women wear and it’s the most challenging to source in urban India,
considering that a lot of us wear salwar-kameez, trousers and skirts more
frequently in our daily life, and thus, that’s what we donate to organizations.

Contact Maher: Email Maher at maher@maherashram.org or get in touch with Mita
Banerjee, who runs Team Miracle that works closely with Maher and will help
coordinate this sari drive in Pune. Email Mita Banerjee of Team Miracle at mitabaner@gmail.com or call up at 09850309598.

Image source: Craft Canvas

3. Share your saris with women in tribal
areas through self-help organizations that work with them. If you’re living/working in Pune,
and looking for another organization to donate your saris to, you might want to
think of Poornam, that’s run by Dr. Rajesh Manerikar that works to improve the
environment through several ways + helps women in tribal areas through
self-help programs and resources.

Contact Poornam: Email Arundhati or Dr. Rajesh at poornam.ecovision@gmail.com or
call them up at 94053-91980. Alternatively, contact Mita Banerjee of Team Miracle who is coordinating the sari drive for Maher and Poornam in Pune. Her
email id is mitabaner@gmail.com and
phone number is 09850309598.

Nalini at the clothes bank in Hyderabad; Image source: Outlook

4. Share your saris with a clothes bank
in your city. Here’s
one run my Nalini Gangadharan in Hyderabad. While they welcome all kinds of
gently-used apparel, it’s saris that they find difficult to source.

5. How about sharing a sari with a sari
library? Yes, a sari
library that rents out the most beautiful saris to women from the lower-income
group for a mere Rs 20. This way, expensive saris are not just for women who
can afford to buy them, but the beauty and joy of a gorgeous sari is shared
with every woman who dreams of wearing one but can’t afford the cost. Vandana
Agarwal from Gramshree in Ahmedabad has started two such libraries in the city
– one in Ranip and the other in Chandlodia, and is planning to spread the sari
love by opening a third library. They could always use more saris from generous
sari lovers.

With the Joy of Giving
Week kicking off on October 2 through October 8, 2016, here’s a great way to
not only share some of that abundance, but also ring in the festival season by
spreading love and cheer.

Hello! Welcome to my little corner in this wide web world, where I write about things that matter to me and everyday sari style. I’m an avid writer & reader, a freelance journalist & serial micro-business creator, a certified health coach & yoga teacher, and a lifelong learner & closet illustrator. Currently, I teach Creative Writing through my Sparkle School and work at building Gorgeous Girls Go Green – a green wellness resource/venture for gals and women. I try to nurture my many passions between trying to be a ‘friendish-mother’ to my bouncy-ball of a son and an ‘un-Stepford Wife’ to my fighter pilot husband. You’ll often find me writing, rustling up new business ideas, doodling, studying or stressing about the many roles that come your way when you marry a man in uniform.

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ABOUT ME

Hello! Welcome to my little corner in this wide web world, where I write about things that matter to me and everyday sari style. I’m an avid writer & reader, a freelance journalist & serial micro-business creator, a certified health coach & yoga teacher, and a lifelong learner & closet illustrator. Currently, I teach Creative Writing through my Sparkle School and work at building Gorgeous Girls Go Green – a green wellness resource/venture for gals and women. I try to nurture my many passions between trying to be a ‘friendish-mother’ to my bouncy-ball of a son and an ‘un-Stepford Wife’ to my fighter pilot husband. You’ll often find me writing, rustling up new business ideas, doodling, studying or stressing about the many roles that come your way when you marry a man in uniform.